Originally published on facebook, 10/23/2020
It is the craziest of times, it is the most insane of times – don’t you feel like you’re losing your mind?
Certainly, these are strange days where everything seems to be off balance and careening towards some weird unknown destination. It is a moment in time where everyone seems to suffer some kind of mental issue. One of the more popular disorders that people have these days is Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Contrary to certain claims, it isn’t a disease that affects Left/Liberal/Democrats, it’s a disease that affects Right/Conservative/Republicans. And, unfortunately, its effects are felt by all.
Opposition to Trump is enough for his followers to accuse you of suffering from TDS, because they simply cannot understand why anyone would oppose their glorious leader. Consider the following short list:
– Trump made fun of a man with disabilities.
– Trump bankrupted a casino.
– Trump said the he and his daughter Ivanka had sex in common.
– His family stole money from a cancer charity to pay for portraits of Trump.
Any one of these alone is enough (and should be enough) to make you question his morals and his competence. This was all well known before he became president. But, his followers rejected the evidence of their eyes and ears in an Orwellian obedience to Trump’s most essential command: vote for him.
While you can keep denying reality, it does have a way to force the situation and make you deal with it. With the relentless onslaught of denial, it is inevitable that something breaks. There’s just no way that the human brain can keep rejecting the evidence of its eyes and ears and continue to function properly.
With the pandemic, this loyalty has taken a very dark turn. A couple of weeks ago, I was having an online conversation with a Trumper. They said only ‘some’ people die from the corona virus, and when I pointed out that those were real people with real families, they replied with a laughing-so-hard-crying emoji.
In the past few days, in Idaho, where hospitals are full of COVID patients and the medical system is collapsing, elected members of local health boards have point blank said that the corona virus is a hoax and they have rescinded mask mandates. These are non-medical professionals and they say that the medical professionals need to investigate what’s making everybody so sick, because “it’s not the corona virus”.
This is derangement, plain and simple. Following Trump has made them deranged enough to deny the reality of this pandemic. They are denying that people are dying and laughing at you when you point that out to them.
Look at Trump’s behavior now in the final 2 weeks of the campaign. He had an interview with Lesley Stahl. His press secretary presented her with what was claimed to be his health plan, and it was a book full of blank pages. Again, he is commanding us to reject the evidence of our eyes and ears, it is his final and most essential command. And to follow his command, is to be become deranged, because that is the only way to truly follow him.
We’ll all have to struggle with the lingering effects of this.